OWINGS MILLS — Opposing teams rarely know where Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton is going to line up.
Sometimes, he stays deep in the secondary as a true safety.
Other times, he’ll come off the edge to blitz the quarterback or stop the run.
Or, Hamilton will play nickel in obvious passing situations.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh said having versatile players like Hamilton is one of the most enjoyable parts of the game.
“We’re player-centric,” Harbaugh said. “We build schemes for players. We think we should be good enough to understand all the options out there, schematically, and how to coach all that. Then, we try to make our choices accordingly based on the players. So, when you find another thing for a player to do that he can do well, man, that’s like gold. That’s a gold nugget, and we try to do that for all [of] our guys.”
Hamilton also has a reputation for his toughness.
He had to leave the Week 14 game against the Rams with a knee injury. Hamilton was back on the practice field the following Wednesday and was able to start the next game against the Jaguars, finishing with a team-high seven tackles.
Hamilton also had three straight games with a tackle for a loss, tying Chuck Clark (2021), Matt Elam (2013), Ed Reed (2003) and Kim Herring (1999) for the longest such streak by a defensive back in franchise history. He has 10 tackles for a loss on the year — the most by a player at that position in the Ravens’ single-season history.
“I have the utmost respect for Kyle. That guy is a warrior,” inside linebacker Roquan Smith said. “The way he came up there and everything he’s been going through this season and just the way he forgot about it all and just said, ‘Hey, I’m going to put it all on the line for us.’ When you think about that, that’s the ultimate teammate that you want in the locker room – a guy that’s willing to sacrifice himself for the betterment of the team, knowing if he was good enough to go, he was going to go.
“I’m just proud of him, and he’s a tough guy.”
